hem and haw

犹豫不决

The ‘You’ is a kind of wild animal which is by nature extremely suspicious.

“犹”是一种野兽，它天生性情非常多疑。

Whenever it hears a sound， it immediately becomes afraid， suspecting that there is a hunter nearby who is trying to catch it， or another animal that wants to harm it. It runs up into a tree and hides， peeking out its head and scanning all around.

不论它在甚么地方找食物，或是散步，一听到声音就害怕。它怀疑有猎人要来抓它，或是别的野兽要来害它，就慌张地爬到树上躲起来。再把头探出来，偷偷地看。

After a while it climbs back down， looking here and looking there.

过了一会儿，又从树上跳下来，在地上东张西望地看看那边。

Only when it is sure that there is nothing around does it finally begin to relax.

一直到什么也没看见，才定下心来。

But then pretty soon， it will again grow afraid， and running up into a tree， begin the same routine all over again.

但是过了一会儿，它又懹疑起来，就又爬到树上，在树上停一会儿，定定心，认为没有什么危险了，才从树上跳下来。

Time and time again， the ‘You’ repeats this， with the result that it spends half of its day running up and down trees， and wastes a lot of energy.

就这样一次又一次地跳上跳下，跳了大半天，总是白费力气。

So， when someone is very hesitant， and cannot make a decision， others often say of this person that ‘the ’You‘ cannot decide.“

后来的人，因为“犹”天生好疑心，不果断，所以当一个人处理事情时，没有主意，不知道怎样处理，就叫做“犹豫不决”。

英语中“犹豫不决”对应的表达可以用“hem and haw”，在这儿hem和haw这两个词都是模拟人们在开口说话前清理嗓子和鼻腔的声音。我们时而会这样做，尤其当自己确定不了该说什么才恰当的时候，更会如此。久而久之，人们就用hem and haw来描述犹豫不决或者踌躇不前了。

我们来看两个例子。第一个例子说到个十六岁的男孩正努力说服爸爸让他去考汽车驾照。我们知道美国不少地区规定至少得满十六足岁才 能开车。

I keep asking dad to let me get my license. But all he does is hem and haw and then end up saying he wants to think it over some more.

我一直要爸爸让我去考到驾照，但是他总是支支吾吾地，末了又说他还得想想再说。

这位爸爸显然是下不了决心，害怕刚够开车年龄的儿子开车闯祸，所以这段话里的hem and haw意思是支吾其词、拖延犹豫。

我们再看个也用上了hem and haw这个习惯用语的例子。这回是新闻记者在说一名参议员不敢直截了当地回答记者关于他在下届改选中作何打算的问题。

He keeps hemming and hawing about whether he’ll run for another term. But I‘d bet money that sooner or later he’ll run all right - where else could he get a job as good?

他对自己是否会争取连任的事再三含糊其辞，但是我敢打赌他一定会参选。他能上哪儿再找到象这么好的工作呀?

这名参议员跟多数政界人物一样，说话经常会给自己留有余地，不愿意把话说定了。所以这里的hemming and hawing意思也是含糊其辞、不明确表示他的决定。